1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to shoe boxes and, in particular, to a shoe box having means for maintaining each of a pair of shoes in fixed spaced relation to another within the box.
2. Description of Prior Art
Shoe boxes have been designed for storing a pair of shoes in fixed spaced relation to one another. However, these prior designs have a variety of limitations which the present invention overcomes.
The Cahill U.S. Pat. No. 1,700,432 discloses a shoe carton in which a divider extends longitudinally along the length of the box separating it into upper and lower triangular cross-sections with each triangular cross-sectioned space designed to receive a shoe. The design requires a costly carton with a significant amount of extra material, provides limited space, and further limits the type of footwear that may be stored.
The Ferrago U.S. Pat. No. 1,764,251 discloses an unconventionally shaped trapezoidal cross-sectioned box which is difficult to make and impractical to store and to use in today's commercial world. The box, moreover, does not effectively separate the shoes of a pair of shoes contained in it since they are in physical contact and susceptible of rubbing against each other.
The Barnes U.S. Pat. No. 1,781,624 discloses a box in which shoes are positioned side by side with a length-wise extending divider. This box is designed as a more permanent display box and not for use in shipping shoes from a manufacturing facility to a retail facility. It is also difficult and costly to make.
The Brinnan U.S. Pat. No. 2,104,828, discloses a shoebox with a divider that extends the length of the box. This divider requires significant additional material with special handling and assembly. Further the box does not facilitate the display of the shoes within the box when it is opened.
The Mann U.S. Pat. No. 2,129,501 discloses a shoe box that requires a separate paste-board insert which divides the shoes longitudinally, and thus requires a significant use of additional materials for purposes of separating the shoes one from the other. The design disclosed is, moreover, complex, difficult to manufacture, and assemble which makes its use as a low cost package for shipping shoes impractical.
The Justin U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,518 discloses a package designed specifically for cowboy boots in which a specially die-cut spacer is provided to fit the boots. This arrangement is time consuming and expensive to assemble and is not readily adapted for a variety of different footwear.
The Carr U.S. Pat. No. 2,782,978 discloses a complicated shoe box design in which a divider is formed, in part, of multiple, longitudinally extending flaps that fold inwardly. The box does not appear to be capable of being mass produced and cannot be made at costs consistent with today's competitive requirements.
The Lee U.S. Pat. No. 2,834,460 discloses a collapsible shoe box with dividers that separate the box into compartments. One embodiment of this disclosure relies upon wrapping one shoe in tissue paper to prevent scuffing. A second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 8 uses a longitudinally extending internal divider similar in general to dividers previously discussed which extend from one end of the box to the other and which require significant additional cardboard or pasteboard and involve additional assembly problems.
The Aull U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,096 primarily features a box which opens at one end and has a mechanism formed integrally with a box for pulling the shoes by the heel from the box as the end is opened. The box has an integrally formed cover with a lip that engages a heel and as the box cover is pivoted open. The lip engages the heel and pulls it outwardly as the cover opens. It also has a divider extending from an end wall that separates one shoe from the other. The divider extends vertically to loosely separate the shoes. It does not provide a wedging action to support the shoes in fixed spaced relation. Nor is it adopted for universal use with footwear that have heels, as well as footwear that have no heels. Additionally, it is a complex design involving use of a great deal of material which is inconsistent with today's cost requirements.
The Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 3,360,112 discloses a shoe box in which an abutment extends across the bottom of the box for purposes of engaging a shoe heel. The purpose of this is to facilitate the opening of the box for sliding the shoes in and out. It is not primarily directed to a shoe box in which the individual shoes are maintained in fixed, separate relation one to the other since the design permits shoes of a pair to rub against each other.
The Patterson U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,671 attempts to resolve the problem of shoes rubbing one against the other by providing a pair of boxes that are integrally associated with one another. It does not deal with modifications of conventionally and commercially designed shoe boxes ordinarily used today to solve this problem. The solution suggested by Patterson is not a practical solution for mass produced commercial shoes. The Carnahan U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,766 relates primarily to a permanent type of shoe box made of transparent plastic. It suggests the use of an integrally formed shoe tree that apparently support individual shoes. It does not deal with the conventional paperboard or cardboard boxes commercially available and ordinarily used today. Nor does it provide a suggestion for improving the function of these shoeboxes to maintain shoes separate one from the other.
These prior art shoeboxes, designed to hold a pair of shoes in fixed or spaced relation one to the other so that they would not rub against each other, particularly during shipping do, therefore, not solve a number of the concerns of shoemakers, dealers, and handlers of footwear. Since shoes can be easily marred or otherwise damaged by rubbing, it is important to keep them separate one from the other. Marring or scuffing of shoes while in transit does, of course, lessen the value and frequently makes the shoes unsaleable. These past efforts to provide a satisfactory solution, however, has not been altogether satisfactory for a variety of reasons in part referred to above.